Siefert Elementary

Siefert Elementary is a small PK–5 school at 1547 N 14th St in Milwaukee, WI, serving 174 students in a dense near-north-side neighborhood as part of Milwaukee School District. About 92.53% of students are economically disadvantaged, and the school sits within roughly a mile of at least ten other schools.

For parents, the most important context is that Siefert has ranked in the bottom 1–4% of Wisconsin elementary schools for ten straight years, with zero stars every year. In 2025-26, its average English/language arts and math proficiency across grades 3–5 was 7.2%, compared with 21.8% for the district and 53.2% statewide. It scored below its own district in all eight tested subject/grade cells; 5th-grade math had 0% proficient, and 4th-grade science was 4.76%. In 2024-25, chronic absenteeism was 63.7%, higher than every nearby school in this comparison and 3.7 times the state rate. The school also spends $25,929 per student—second-highest locally—and has a 14.7-to-1 student-teacher ratio, second-lowest locally, yet results have stayed flat.

Nearby comparisons are striking. Milwaukee College Preparatory School -- Lloyd Street and Milwaukee College Preparatory School: Lola Rowe North Campus serve similar high-poverty populations and post roughly 4.5–5 times the school’s proficiency while spending about $5,700–$5,900 less per student and having much larger classes. Highland Community School, about half a mile away, ranks at the 43rd percentile with much lower poverty, while Brown Street Academy, Elm Creative Arts Elementary, Carver Academy, and Starms Discovery are also in the bottom few percent of the state. Special education effectiveness is at the 1st percentile in the most recent data. With only about 17–25 test-takers per grade, one student can shift a grade-level score by 4–6 points, so single-year swings are noisy; the persistent pattern—not one bad year—is what stands out. The clearest levers suggested by the data are attendance and instructional practice, not funding or class size alone.